Fort Wayne Police Department Deputy Chief Dottie Davis was in Warsaw Tuesday afternoon to talk about Crisis Intervention Team officers.
CIT officers are used in situations where people have mental health issues.
A goal of the CIT program is to divert people suffering from a mental illness from jail to treatment facilites.
Davis said having law enforcement officers trained in dealing with people suffering from a mental health crisis benefits both the community and law enforcement.
Davis also said that while a CIT program thrives in Fort Wayne it can also thrive elsewhere.
"It doesn't matter how big or small the community is but how well they work together," said Davis.
According to Davis, a CIT program is only successful when everyone involved plays an active role.
Mental health providers, hospital personnel, judges, prosecutors and clergy are some of those Davis said are needed in the discussion.
There are officers both in Warsaw and in the county who have received CIT training.
Davis said the key is to build upon that training and for everyone involved to work more closely together.
The program may also save law enforcement agencies money.
For example, Allen County Sheriff's Department allocates $200,000 a year for psychotropic drugs for individuals incarcerated with mental illness. Davis said that if the CIT program is used properly and some of those people are diverted, the sheriff's department saves money.
There also are different criteria for those charged with misdemeanor charges and felony charges.
If a person commits a felony, they will go to jail but they will also immediately begin to recieve treatment as to avoid the person spiraling out of control.
Davis said a goal of the program is to break the cycle of people who suffer from mental illness going in and out of the system without being properly treated.
